Morning Program Schedule

Spring Hill Montessori operates on a morning program schedule. The preschool session, from 8:45 – 11:45 am, includes independent and group exploring time, Montessori lessons, arts and craft activities, story time, healthy snacks, music, creative movement, and outdoor play in the fully equipped playground.

Daily Schedule

8: 45

children arrive at school; free work time

9: 30

circle; group lesson

9:45

free work time

10:00

group activity*

10: 30

story time followed by question-and-answer

10: 45

snack time

11:00

group activities while waiting for children to finish snack

11:15

outdoor play

11: 45

pickup; parent/caregiver updates

*Daily Group activities:

Monday

Weekend story sharing: The children take turns telling the group about a weekend experience.

Tuesday

Wednesday

Skits and group singing: Mark and Victoria act out skits to model ground rules of grace and courtesy to both instruct and amuse the children. Sing along on the circle engages the group in traditional songs as well as tunes suggested by the children.

Thursday

Music class: Ruth Blackburn, a Master’s graduate of the Longy School of Music, teaches Dalcroze Eurhythmics.

Friday

Show and tell: Children bring in favorite projects and toys to display and describe to the class. We encourage the children to bring their show-and-tell items in a bag to carry home their weeklong paperwork, projects and “Weekly Highlights” newsletter.

Montessori Preschool Method

The Spring Hill curriculum aims to develop the whole child. At the center of this effort we foster competency in the skills of everyday living and the refinements of their five senses. We introduce them to phonics, numbers, science, and geography.

We look to enhance the development of their gross and fine motor control, encourage their interpersonal and intrapersonal skills. Most importantly, we seek to establish in each child a confidence in their own ability to succeed. To reach these goals, we draw heavily on the philosophy developed by Maria Montessori.

Montessori’s method recognizes that learning is most effective when motivated by the intrinsic curiosity of the child. The work of the Montessori child is to make the person they are to become.

Freedom to Choose Builds Confident Learners

We encourage children to choose freely from a variety of “educational toys” so they develop their cognitive skills through active manipulation. The design of these preschool teaching materials fosters concentration, independence, order, coordination, and control. When students explore, they delight in the discovery of the educational content designed into each material. Enjoying free choice of their activities in the classroom, the children develop a deep sense of satisfaction and mastery. Freedom to choose also minimizes the disappointment of failure. Children choose challenging materials only when they feel confidence, which paves the road to competence.

A Balance of Individual and Group Activities

As Victoria’s teaching certificate is in the methods of traditional kindergarten, she balances the independent learning of Montessori with the group learning of traditional kindergarten. Her experience and training help to socialize the children to group learning activities. Weekly yoga and Eurythmic classes help children gently acclimate to structured group classes. We feel that balancing independent Montessori exploration with traditional kindergarten’s social learning affords our students the best of both educational models. We feel a preschool’s central duty is to ensure a successful transition into the child’s next school.

"My kids learned so much there about how to be considerate and valuable members of a group, about how to work together, and about how to work independently when they are ready. The solid foundation Spring Hill gave them both educationally and socially has been invaluable as they have gone on to their next schools. I cannot recommend Spring Hill Montessori highly enough."